Day 102: Boscawen to Lebanon

September 10, 2021

The Northern Trail

“I’m ready for some downhill,” Patrick says. “After Canaan,” Stuart says, “we start going downhill”. We’ve stopped at the Country Store in Danbury for ice cream on The Northern Trail.

We meet Stuart at the Trailhead in Boscawen. His friend Judy has driven him here and will pick him up tomorrow in Lebanon. It is chilly this morning but the trail surface is fine after all the rain yesterday. This trail is one of longest in New Hampshire, built in 1847 and part of the Boston to Quebec route of the Northern RR. The first section of trail follows the Merrimac River, we pass old landmarks: the remains of a round house to turn locomotives, Daniel Webster lake and the site of a Grist Mill, giving evidence of years past when industry was strong along the river.

After about 20 miles at Andover we take a short detour to go to a café, we reach it minutes before they stop serving breakfast. Eggs and French toast will get us further down the trail.

At Danbury we are halfway and stop at the Country Store. Seems we’ve been climbing on this stretch. When we reach Mascoma Lake we have to bushwhack off the trail. The Campground isn’t really set up for tents, but they are friendly and adapt giving us an RV site on gravel. No worries, we have a nice hot shower. We enjoy the red wine we picked up at a store in Canaan, and then Stuart pulls out a bottle of whiskey and he even has the small shot glass size cups!

We walk across the road to the Baited Hook Restaurant for dinner. All in all, a wonderful day of cycling with Stuart as a guide.